Premarital Counseling
Before taking the step to complete “half your religion”, as the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, it has become popular to take premarital counseling. Unfortunately, perhaps because of its popularity, it sometimes becomes a mere formality and loses its practical benefit. Furthermore, as a formality and sometimes a mandated prerequisite for officiating the nikah (marriage), premarital counseling commonly places the couples’ expectations of marital harmony in the premarital counseling process itself. This can lead to disappointment because it doesn’t necessarily provide adequate structures for when discord arises.
To avert this disappointment and give you tools for success in the premarital process, I suggest going through the following and taking notes about what challenges or questions come up for you both.
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“Whoever knows themselves knows God and whoever knows God knows themselves.” – Unknown
The first step to establishing a healthy marriage is knowing more about ourselves. While personality tests are not absolute, they are useful tools to understand ourselves a bit deeper.
Here's a free personality test based on the famous Myres-Briggs. -
In addition to knowing about our personality, how we like/need to be loved is important information for ourselves and our potential spouse.
Here’s a free test. -
After 25+ years in serving the community, Imam Muhammad Majid (of ADAMS Center in Virginia) prepared this exhaustive list of questions covering much of what could be problematic for a couple as a marriage progresses, some of which we might not have ever thought of.
Download here. -
While mediation is covered in Imam Majid’s 100 questions, a part of marriage that is often neglected is our support system. Some things to think about regarding this are:
- Who are our mentors I trust to discuss my marriage (in times of ease and difficulty)?
- What system of self/soul-care do I have for the ebbs and flows of life?
Once completed, if you are interested in scheduling an appointment please feel free to do so.